In career-best form, Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona is poised to make a giant-sized dent on the NRL finals.

The Storm prop was a stand-out in their final round win over North Queensland at AAMI Park on Friday night before the minor premiers collected the JJ Giltinan Shield.

Asofa-Solomona skittled the Cowboys, running 174 metres in just 44 minutes and also bagged a try for the second straight match.

Standing two metres tall and weighing 115kg, Asofa-Solomona was always predicted to have a big future in the NRL.

Just 23, “Big Nasty” has already clocked up more than 100 first grade games.

But Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said that late in the 2019 season he had taken his game to a new level.

“He’s probably got a little bit better in the last month or six weeks,” Bellamy said.

“He’s playing his role better. He’s 23 and he’s just played his 100th game – there are not many players who play that position and get to 100 games by 23.”

Bellamy said the young Kiwi international was taking on more of a leadership role within the pack this season, particularly with the loss of Queensland prop Christian Welch to a season-ending knee injury.

“He’s gone to another level this year – he comes to our meetings and trainings with an opinion and that shows he is improving and showing some leadership skills,” Bellamy said.

“He’s been a real plus for us.”

The no-nonsense Asofa-Solomona put his improvement down to simple hard work.

“There is no special potion or anything,” he said.

“I’m just doing my thing at training, working hard there and building my confidence from there – nothing special.”

With some new faces in the pack in Tui Kamikamica, Max King and Tino Faasuamaleaui, Asofa-Solomona said he was enjoying leading from the front.

“I see myself as a bit of a leader,” he said.

“We have a couple of new guys in Max and Tui so at the start of the second half I make sure I show my talking ability and lead the boys around in that middle.

“I made sure I had a word with Maxy last week and told him to make that jersey his own and he did that (against the Cowboys).”